Remember when you were a kid and you'd spend each waking,
sunny moment of summer running barefoot through the grass, skidding
down steep hills on your bike or chucking water balloons at your
pals?

Of course you do. How could you forget, when there are dozens of
kids skipping down your street in childlike bliss while you're
slaving away at your computer, licking envelopes and developing an
acute pain in your right temple?

Depending on where you live, being a homebased entrepreneur can
be more than a bit trying during those glorious summer months. The
thought of meeting deadlines and drumming up new business can
quickly turn into a case of the summertime blues, when you'd
like nothing more than to abandon your work and join those
youngsters on the swings at the park.

Obviously, you can't blow off your business--but you
can't let yourself reach the point of mental breakdown either.
Instead, you'll need to balance the two extremes and find ways
to make the best of things.

Get Flexible

For starters, you'll want to set regular summer hours,
announce them to your kids, spouse, clients--even your dog, if you
need to. Observe them, and make sure they do the same. "If you
have regular hours, it's very good discipline for yourself to
keep them," says Julian Lange, a management consultant and
professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley,
Massachusetts. "It works positively."

But beyond that, take a look at how you approach your work--and
indeed, all the challenges and opportunities that accompany running
your business. Often, those summertime blues can be cured--or at
least treated--by taking advantage of the flexibility you enjoy as
a homebased entrepreneur.

The key word here is flexibility, say homebased business
consultants Paul and Sarah Edwards. "Scheduling solves a lot
of the problems," says Sarah. "You can incorporate some
of the things you enjoy doing so you don't feel like you're
losing out on summer." That might mean scheduling a tennis
match, spending the afternoon at the beach, having lunch with your
kids--or, hey, running around on the grass for 10 minutes. (Just
make sure the neighbors don't see you.)

For those of you who have kids, you'll want to arrange some
activities for them to engage in while you're working, even if
you have a nanny. But don't neglect scheduling some time with
your kids. "You could even involve the kids on different
[business] projects," says Sarah. "It can become a family
time."

Vacations, too, are crucial. But if the thought of leaving your
"baby" for longer than it takes you to grab a snack in
the kitchen frightens you, start slowly with an afternoon of
vegging in the hammock or picnicking with your kids.

Remember, you also have flexibility in terms of where you work;
if possible, take your laptop or paperwork outside or hold business
meetings on the deck. You can even leave the premises without
losing valuable work time. Many organizations hold annual
conferences in the summer; if you can find one that would help your
business, go for it. "Sometimes these conferences are held in
fun places and offer family facilities," says Paul. "You
could tack on a vacation before or after the conference."

Take A Breather

Figure out what works for you, then do it, and do it
religiously, without hesitation and without fear that your business
will disappear if you sneak in a break. It won't.
"There's a common fear that if we take a break or relax,
we'll lose our momentum or lose our business," says Sarah.
"We forget that once the car is going, we don't have to
keep our accelerator [pressed] to the floorboard."

In fact, if you do become your own slave driver, your business
will be in more jeopardy than if you took a breather once in a
while. "As a homebased business owner, you're your
number-one asset," says Sarah. "You have to keep yourself
happy and satisfied, and that means taking breaks and vacations and
enjoying life. It prevents you from becoming embittered toward your
work."

And though mapping out every activity--down to the 2 o'clock
break you'll take tomorrow--might seem tedious, it'll do
you and your business more good than you could imagine.

"People don't like to feel as if they're on a
treadmill and their whole life is scheduled," says Lange.
"But setting a schedule helps because there's a beginning
and an end to things. You get a sense of accomplishment, and
don't feel guilty about taking an afternoon off."

Sure, this perfect balance of summer living and working sounds
good, but how does it translate to real life? We asked four
homebased business owners how they manage to keep in cool during
the long, hot summer.

The Rules

It's not surprising some people say Lindsay Strand works out
of a bat cave. She's got a husband, two kids, a dog and a
rabbit--not to mention her own company, Lindsay Strand Associates
Inc., a 10-year-old Minneapolis firm that provides consulting on
media relations, and executive coaching on presentations and
interview skills.

So she's found that if she wants to get any work done, she
has to hole up in a corner of her house and pretend like the
outside world doesn't exist. Says Strand, "You have to
erect the Great Wall between the home and the office."

That can be tough, especially when summer rolls around and the
kids are home with the nanny, the neighbors are popping in for a
quick hello and the dog's yearning to romp in the sunshine. But
with careful planning, Strand staves off the frustration that could
easily sneak up on any homebased entrepreneur whose abode
inevitably bustles with activity during the summer months.

For starters, Strand adjusts her work flow so spring and fall
are her busiest seasons, leaving August as a lighter month when she
can spend more time with her family and reevaluate business goals.
"Summer is an opportunity for growth but almost more of a
maintenance period," notes Strand. "I don't expect
[to perform at] the highest, most intense level of work, and I
don't design such a rigid schedule that if an interruption
occurs, I can't recover from it."

Still, Strand is careful to clearly spell out her work hours and
rules so interruptions can be kept to a minimum. "You have to
establish your summer hours and communicate them to your children,
clients and neighbors," says Strand. "Generally, clients
are respectful of that."

With careful planning, summer can be a wonderful time for a
homebased entrepreneur--if, like Strand, you allow yourself to take
walks, spend time with your kids, take a day off--whatever floats
your boat.

Another great benefit of being homebased, says Strand, is
she's able to expose her kids to a typical work environment.
For instance, she might show her 9-year-old son how to use the fax
machine or her 13-year-old daughter how to assemble press kits.

Above all, the 43-year-old enjoys the expertise she's
acquired over the years that allows her to lighten her summer load
and spend extra time with her family. "In 10 years," she
says, "I've had a chance to learn from my own
mistakes."

Pairing Up

"Summer is my busiest time of year," says Karen
Hopkins, homebased owner of Making Arrangements, a special events
floral company in Redmond, Washington. "I don't have much
choice but to work hard--and it absolutely kills me when it's a
nice day outside, especially since we're near Seattle, where we
treasure every bit of sun we can get."

Karen's husband, Howard, also works at home as the owner of
H.C. Hopkins and Associates, a $70,000 computer programming and
consulting company. And though Howard, 54, doesn't have a set
time of year when he gets a rush of business, he, too, finds summer
to be a bit busier for his 9-year-old firm.

It's for that reason that Karen and Howard have to reach
within and find self-motivation. "I also allow myself a reward
system," says Karen, 51, whose experience on the homebased
front goes back 15 years. "If it's a really nice day and I
just can't stand being indoors, I'll allow myself to go out
and enjoy it--as long as I meet my deadlines."

To ease her workload, Karen, who projects sales of $50,000 this
year, hires help on an as-needed basis and uses the slower winter
months to prepare for the summer crunch. But more important, and in
addition to any local networking groups they may utilize, the
Hopkinses offer each other emotional support and schedule summer
fun together and with their friends, two children and two
grandchildren.

Vacations have also been crucial. "We've learned you
have to take a break--you can burn out if you don't," says
Karen, who recalls reaching burnout phase in other businesses with
which she's been involved. "That's been a hard lesson
for us to learn because we're very work-oriented."

But it's such an important lesson. Without time off, you can
lose perspective of your life, says Howard, who, after spending 25
years in corporate America, treasures his homebased status and all
the perks that accompany it. "Vacations are a time of renewal
and reassessment, when you can step back and decide if there are
any new goals you want to set."

The key, the couple agrees, is to constantly remind yourself why
you decided to become homebased in the first place and stick by
your decision. "Tell yourself 'I'm going to do it,
period,' " advises Howard. "You might have to tell
yourself a thousand times a day, but if that's what you have to
do, then do it."

Indulge Yourself

Through her 10 years of homebased business experience, Heather
Martin has learned at least one important lesson about beating
those summertime blues: If you get the urge to frolic outdoors,
don't fight it. "It's like dieting," says Martin,
owner of SuccessWorks, a marketing communications and consulting
firm in Bellingham, Washington. "If you tell yourself 'I
refuse to ever eat chocolate again,' the first thing you do is
start craving it, and then you go off and binge. It's the same
thing with working at home--one of the beauties is that you have
some flexibility."

So take advantage of that flexibility, and you'll avoid the
danger of flipping out and needing more than an afternoon or a
weekend of playtime. "You won't feel completely
denied," says Martin, "and you won't wake up one day
saying 'I haven't seen the sun in days--must take week
off!' "

The 30-year-old entrepreneur, who finds herself at her busiest
during the summer, has learned to steal pleasure in small shots
here and there--an afternoon walk with a fellow homebased friend, a
business lunch in the sun, an occasional long weekend.

Whatever the remedy, Martin finds time for it. "If I
don't give myself the time I need, the focus problem becomes
even worse," she says. "It does my clients--and me--no
good if I'm here all stressed out because what I really want to
do is go outside for 10 minutes."

Martin makes it sound easy--but there was a time when she'd
draw the drapes and bury herself in her work whenever the sun
peeped out. She's learned to be gentler with herself, though
it's difficult at times. "I still feel guilty if I'm
outside between the hours of 9 and 5," admits Martin. "I
feel like I have an umbilical cord between the phone, the computer
and me--but as long as I balance it and work at peak capacity, then
[my breaks] are best for everyone."

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